Dance One Year In, Kiss One Goodbye
by Corvus corone
Summary: The characters of Gakuen Alice celebrate the New Year. A series of drabbles, some romantic, some not, each focusing on a different group of people. Your favourite characters are almost certain to be included. Chapter 10 - Natsume/Mikan.
1. TEN: HayateHotaru

_**Disclaimer**: God, do I really need to say this? I do not own Gakuen Alice._

_A/N: Happy New Year! To celebrate, I'm going to do a series of **ten short drabblyoneshots** on ten pairings/groups of people, one for each countdown number. One will be posted **EVERY SINGLE DAY** until the 11th, which is the deadline for the Gakuen Alice Club at deviantART's New Year competition. Title from "The Perfect Year" from "Sunset Boulevard".  
_

_First up - **Hayate/Hotaru**. The whole thing is set five years in the future, so Hayate is 20 and Hotaru is 15.  
_

XXX

**TEN - X - 10**

It's much too late at night to be working, thinks Hayate. Still, Hotaru - or Cool Blue Sky, as he likes to call her in his mind - is not in her room. Instead, Hayate found a note saying, _"I'm working late tonight. I'll be in my workshop if you want me. -- Hotaru,"_ on her desk.

Oh crap, Hayate thinks. Where the hell is her workshop? He had been there before, true, but he's completely forgotten the way ... Although he graduated from the Academy two years ago (making it two years since he and Hotaru started going out, seeing as she had only accepted him on his very last day), Hotaru had shown him her lab once or twice. But he still couldn't remember.

"Let's see ... it was definitely down this corridor, up one of these stairs ... or was it down that one? Oh great, now I'm talking to myself." He takes a deep breath. "HOTARU!! COOL BLUE SKY!!" he shouts down a random corridor. They all look the same ... Hayate is beginning to regret not going with Hajime to visit Rui's place, or at the least forcing Hotaru to come to his apartment for New Year's. There was a reason why students were allowed to get out of the Academy this time of year. Hayate sighs.

A door opens somewhere. "Hayate?"

Hayate whirls around and still doesn't see her. "Blue-chan? Where are you?"

"I told you to call me Hotaru," she says. Hayate can practically _hear _the frown in her voice. "Down here; hurry up."

Finally. Hayate sees a movement down the corridor that he came down, and rushes towards his girlfriend. "What're you working so hard on? You planning on missing the new year?" he says as he walks into the cluttered room.

"I haven't missed it yet. By my watch, I still have exactly one minute before this day ends."

Hayate laughs and says, "Yeah, whatever. So what's the big project then?"

"Just something small for you. A late Christmas present," says Hotaru. Her mouth twitches in an almost-smile.

"But you already got me a present ... but's that still cool," says Hayate. He's wearing that present, an electronic scarf which changed colour with mood and temperature, right now. "And how did you know I was going to get here before midnight?"

"I'm sure you're desperate to be with me for New Year's Eve, seeing as you gave up having fun with Rui and Hajime," she says. "Besides, my sensors could hear you running around the building for the last half-hour, so I knew exactly where you were all along."

She knew? Hayate is torn between laughter, frustration and confusion. He closes his eyes and tries not to think about it. "Ugh ... right. Cool. Yeah."

There's a "ting" from somewhere in the room, and then the sound of footsteps and someone (or some_thing_, knowing how many robots Hotaru has in this room) moving.

"Happy new year," Hotaru says just before she kisses him. Hayate's eyes are still shut.

XXX


	2. NINE: Rui and Hajime

_A/N: No romance in this one, just two good friends and a bit of pointlessness. Again, set five years on, so Rui and Hajime are both around 23._

_Also, the **Gakuen Alice Readers' Choice Awards for 2008** have been set up! To nominate your favoured fics, go to my profile and click the link pointing to it._

XXX

**NINE - IX - 9**

"Happy new year!" says Rui. "Hey, cheer up! You're with ME!" He grins at Hajime.

"Eh ... yeah, happy new year," Hajime says. Being with Rui for a whole evening does tend to tire a person out, especially when that person was never the happy hyper type to begin with. In actual fact, Hajime had only been here for half an hour or so, but still ...

"So why isn't Hayate here? Did you already tell me why? I forgot," Rui says apologetically.

Hajime _has_ already told Rui before, but Rui's memory has never been too good. "I asked him to come with me, but he said he wanted to visit his girlfriend. Said he might drop in after midnight though."

"Oh right, yeah, you did tell me. Huh, his _girlfriend_," Rui says in a tone of disparaging disgust. "That little girl who's still a middle schooler?"

"Nnn," Hajime says, nodding. He had thought it was quite weird too - then again, Hayate had been obsessed with her for the whole of his time in the sixth form, so he supposed it was good that Hayate had finally got his wish. Even if Hotaru Imai was rather, you know, strange. Always thinking about money and her robots ... still, at least Hayate had stopped whining about being rejected by his Cool Blue Sky every time he called.

"Stealing away Hayate so he can't join his old friends in the DA trio ... ahaha," Rui says.

Hajime's mind snaps back to reality and away from Hotaru's eggshell helmet. "Stealing him away so you can't have him?"

"Yeah, that too," Rui says with an extravagant flick of his long blonde hair. "Nah, I was never interested in that idiot; that technogirl can have him. So how about you? How come you're spending your evening with me instead of that girl you keep telling me about?"

"We broke up," says Hajime shortly. He takes a gulp of his beer.

"Oh, that's too bad; don't worry about it. God_, women_," says Rui, half grinning and half smirking.

Hajime rolls his eyes. "And you're spending a boring evening with ... me? What were you going to do before I said I was coming?"

"Oh, nothing in particular. But I'm so happy you came! It's, like, the first time I've seen you in a whole year! Anyway, I thought I might go down to a club or something tonight, but then I decided I really couldn't be asked ... I haven't been as lucky as you and that windbag in getting a partner. All the guys I've met keep getting freaked out about my Alice and the whole thing with Persona's secret missions. Oh look, this is depressing me." Rui takes a drink from the cooler and shakes his head to get rid of depressing thoughts. "So what else have you been doing? Seen anyone else from the Academy this year?"

"No, this is the first time I've been back in Japan. I'm leaving again in a week."

It's quite amazing how long Rui can ramble happily on for if no-one stops him - and as Hayate was the one in their trio who did that job (Hajime doesn't really care), Rui just keeps going on and on.

XXX


	3. EIGHT: KokoSumire

_A/N: Sumire is 16, Koko is 14 or 15 (birthdays always confuse me)._

_XXX_

**EIGHT - VIII - 8**

"For the love of God, can you not move any faster?" says Sumire to the alarm clock. "I swear, this thing is actually fricking slowing down!"

Koko looks over. "No it's not," he says simply.

Sumire makes a funny sound halfway between a growl and a snarl. "I don't care what you think! Could midnight come any slower or what?!"

Koko sighs, and makes sure his Alice-restraining band is in place. He doesn't want to be deafened by Sumire's angry thoughts. "You know, shouting at the clock doesn't actually make a difference -"

He is interrupted by Sumire turning to him and giving him a proper cat hiss, complete with bared fangs. "Woaeurgh!" he says in surprise. "Okay, I'll stop being annoying. But you know, your little fangs are really cute."

She glowers and then rubs her face hard to get rid of any cat bits. "Shut up! Are they still there?"

"No, it's all fine. Why're you so desperate to get to midnight anyway? We could, you know, _talk _or _chat _or something before it gets there ..."

"Yeah, but that's boring! We chat all the time! But if we don't get this whole New Year's kiss stuff right, I'm gonna be really, really annoyed tomorrow ... so that's why this stupid thing should get a move on!"

"Maybe Noda could do it for you. Come on, why can't we just talk about something to pass the time? It's only, like, a minute or something. Which isn't planning on going any quicker."

"Why can't _you_ just take off that wristband and talk to me without me having to make the effort?"

"Misaki-sensei made it permanent ... he said that he was tired of having me listen in on all his private thoughts ..." says Koko, his smile falling just a fraction.

Throwing the clock onto the floor and listening to the satisfactory "clunk-ting-sproing" sound that a broken clock makes, Sumire leans back into the couch. "Okay, fine. So what d'you want to do now then? And what were Misaki-sensei's private thoughts?"

"He said that he would personally strangle me in the night if I ever told anyone," says Koko. "Uh, how're we gonna know when it's time to kiss?"

Sumire shrugs. She makes a mental note to get that information out of Koko tomorrow - right now she wants to concentrate on this New Year's Eve thing, because she's just come up with a Bright Idea. "Doesn't matter. If we just start now, then we _must_ be able to get the midnight bit in there somewhere."

The only thing that spoils their New Year's Eve kiss is a "ding-a-ling-a-ding-a-_BLOINK_" from a broken alarm clock in the middle of it. Oh well - at least they know that they've made the midnight mark.

XXX


	4. SEVEN: Anna and Nonoko

_A/N: I think they're both 14 or 15. _

_If I don't reply to your reviews, it's not because I don't love you. It's because I'm also taking Important Exams That Will Affect My Whole Life in real life next week, running the GARC Awards (which you should be nominating your favourite authors/fics for - go to my profile for details), and dealing with Idiotic (Boy)Friend Problems at the same time. I do still read reviews and stuff VERY thoroughly though, and the fact that other people enjoy what I write helps me get through my annoying life without exploding ... Sorry._

_XXX_

**SEVEN - VII - 7**

"Anna-chan ... can we go now? Please?"

Nonoko's family is visiting her best friend Anna's family this Christmas break. At the moment, everyone in the house is asleep except for the two girls in the kitchen.

"No! I need to finish this cream topping tonight or the Happy Sparkles Effect (tm) won't work properly!" Anna is almost running around the kitchen in her panic. She's been trying out a new recipe which isn't quite working.

"Okay, okay, but calm down will you? You're making me nervous! What if your dad wakes up or something?"

Anna slumps down into a chair next to Nonoko. "Sorry ... I just want my mum's birthday to be perfect tomorrow! I'd be so annoyed if my cake spoilt it ..."

"Oh come on, nothing can possibly be _spoilt_ by your cooking. What's the point of having your Alice?"

"Yes, well ... whatever," says Anna, shrugging. She re-ties her bubblegum-pink hair and reads through the recipe again.

"Huh ... it says that it'll work better with some Essence of Romance in it," says Nonoko, looking over Anna's shoulder.

"Yeah, I know! Who wrote this book anyway? How am I supposed to get that when I don't even _have _a boyfriend, let alone a romantic one?!" Anna groans and puts her face in her hands. "Even that girl in the year below us with the glasses and the weird braces has a boyfriend!"

Nonoko pats Anna's shoulder in a comforting manner. So it's back to this topic again. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure that one day we'll find someone ..." Anna and Nonoko have suffered the annoyance and indignity of not having a boyfriend for their whole life. It's getting rather depressing.

"But what if we don't? I mean, what if _I _don't? You're pretty and clever and whatever, but, oh, I dunno ... what if I have to wait until I'm like forty-two before anyone takes any interest in me?"

"Shut up! Maybe we should make New Year's resolutions or something to get a boyfriend next year. Or at least try to."

"New Year's resolutions never work ..."

"Well they might if we tried hard enough! Like, you know, actually asking out people and stuff. Do you remember when we were in Elementary School and we kept asking Misaki-sensei to the Last Dance every year?"

Anna laughs, immediately cheered by that memory. "How could I forget? Pity it never worked ..." The two girls lapse into dreamy silence as their thoughts turn to Misaki-sensei.

"Yes, anyway, my resolution! This year, I vow that I will ask out at least, er, how many?" says Nonoko, remembering what they had been talking about before.

"Um ... two? We don't want to look too desperate."

"I will ask out at least two boys. There. Your turn?"

"Okay then, so will I. So who're you thinking of?"

"I'm not going to tell _you_! Hey, is your cream ready yet?"

Anna jumps up and dashes towards her bowl of mixture. "It's actually okay! Thanks, Nonoko-chan!" she says happily.

Maybe this year will be more successful than the last.

XXX


	5. SIX: Teachers with a bit of NarumiMisaki

_A/N: There are 170 people wanting to use a computer. There are a total of 7 computers available. Guess what this means for the quality of my writing, which I can do only on a computer and not particularly well in a few minutes with people crowding around?_

_Go do the GARC Awards if you haven't already. ^^ The more people and fics you nominate, the happier I will be._

_XXX_

**A Load Of Old Teachers (with a bit of NarumixMisaki and standoffish Yamada-sensei)**

**SIX - VI - 6**

"Where are they?"

Jinno turns to see Noda peering over the top of the crowd, evidently searching for them, whoever they might be.

"Who?"

"Naru and Misaki, idiot. You do remember our bet, right? Or ... wait, this _is_ the 2008 to 2009 New Year, isn't it?"

"Yes it is, and I do remember. They were by the Christmas tree a few minutes ago," says Jinno.

"What are you betting on?" says a voice from behind them. Noda jumps. _Please, please don't let that be one of those people who I don't want it to be ..._

"Whether Misaki and Narumi are together or not," says Jinno to the newcomer, cutting off Noda's rather confused thoughts.

Noda turns round and sees that substitute teacher, the one with the hair. "Aha ... ha ... I thought you might be one of them," he explains. "But yeah, Jin-Jin - sorry about the nickname - is right. I'm betting that they are."

"Right," says the substitute teacher with the hair. It's common knowledge that Narumi and Misaki are somewhat involved, but it seems that as soon as someone says, "Oh yeah, they _definitely_ together", then someone else says, "You know they broke up, right?". Really, it feels like some sort of high school gossip club. The substitute teacher has a private theory that they never were involved with each other in the first place and Narumi just likes to amuse himself by spreading around weird rumours. Or, knowing Narumi and his rather odd sense of humour, maybe it's the other way around and they never broke up. "So ... er ... how are you going to know?" he asks.

"You know how it's New Year's Eve? If they really are, ah, together, then they're probably going to kiss at midnight," explains Noda.

"And before you say, 'Why don't you just ask Serina?', she's not saying anything anymore. Apparently she thinks it's unethical to indulge in our gambling on her best friends' relationship, as well as the fear having the reputation of an untrustworthy gossip," Jinno says before the substitute teacher can open his mouth.

"Er, right. I'll just leave you to it then ..." he says as he quickly escapes into the crowd.

"Hey! Watch it!" says someone, someone who he just crashed into while making his escape. Oh no, Misaki-sensei ... the really scary one who I really shouldn't crash into, thinks the nervous Hair Alice. And the one that Jinno and Noda were just talking about.

"Don't worry about it," says Narumi, who's just appeared by Misaki's side. "What were Jin-Jin and Time-man talking about? Their bet on us?"

The substitute teacher makes a sort-of "eep!" sound at this revelation, and says, "Er, um, yes?"

Misaki frowns and says, "I'm going to my room now - happy new year," before departing.

"See you later!" Narumi calls cheerfully after him. Turning back to the substitute with the hair, he says, "Oh, this is just too much fun! What can I say ... well, I'm going to get out of this party now, but you can tell them we broke up." The effect of this statement is spoiled by Narumi grinning with glee as he continues. "It was absolutely heartbreaking. I almost couldn't bear to live after it. No, seriously. But, you know, we both agreed it was for the best, and one day I will learn to love again ... something like that? Hmm ... you can say you heard it from my homeroom class or something." He giggles evilly and skips out of the staffroom.

The other teacher is still thinking about whether or not to pass this message on to Noda and Jinno when a woman's voice behind him says, "Please say that you're not going to actually tell them that. There's enough ridiculous gossip going on already - and if they don't know, they can both lose that bet and have their fun arguing about it for the rest of the year."

XXX


	6. FIVE: TsubasaMisaki

**FIVE - V - 5**

At eleven o'clock in the evening, Tsubasa returns to his college and puts his things in his dorm room. Then he goes over to the communual common room to make some toast, wondering if anyone else is around.

"How come you're back so early?"

Tsubasa jumps in surprise. "What?" He looks around for the source of the voice.

"I said, how come you're back already, dimwit? You know we don't have to be here 'til tomorrow."

Tsubasa turns on the light and sees Misaki Harada sitting on the couch munching on a piece of toast with jam. "Oh right, it's you. My family are going on holiday and they left this evening, so they dropped me off on the way," he explains. "Hey, how come you're here? And why're you sitting by yourself in the dark?"

"I was at Kaname's place last night, and I couldn't be asked to go all the way back home. I _was_ watching TV but then the show ended, so I was going to go when I finished eating. Hey, have you seen anyone else around? This place is so boring when you're by yourself ... it's even boring talking to my clones."

"No, just got back, like, five minutes ago." He goes over and sits next to Misaki. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, I guess," she says glumly, not at all like her usual fierce and spiky self. A week or so ago, Misaki had told Tsubasa that she had broken up with her boyfriend of six months. Or rather, he had broken up with her. It had not been the most cheerful of phone conversations ...

"You shouldn't be upset about that twat," says Tsubasa.

"Yeah, I know. And I'm not upset, so shut up. It's just that his utter, I dunno what it is, _twatiness_, depresses me. We don't have to talk about it," she said, looking sideways at Tsubasa.

"Okay," Tsubasa says, not talking about it.

They pass some time chatting about random things such as matchmaking Kaname's toys and what would happen if someone killed one of Misaki's clones. After a while, Misaki says slowly, "You know what you said to me on the phone? I was thinking about it, and ... maybe we should try it."

Tsubasa can only think of one very important thing that he said to Misaki on the phone, and he can't quite believe what he's hearing. "You what really?" he says.

Misaki looks as if she isn't sure whether to hit him for sounding stupid or whether to laugh at his facial expression. "I said, maybe we should actually go out. I mean, we've known each other for a pretty long time, and we get on well, and I'm single now thanks to that Alice-phobic prat, so ... yeah, I thought, why not?"

"That's ... amazing," says Tsubasa, still in shock and unable to say anything more intelligent. He's been chasing after his best friend Misaki Harada for _years_ - so long that he couldn't even remember when or how his feelings for her had started. _Please don't let this be another one of those annoying dreams that's going to end in about two seconds_, he thinks.

"Close your mouth and quit looking like an idiot," Misaki says, scowling. "It's not like I just told you I was pregnant or something."

XXX


	7. FOUR: Yuu, Mochu and the foxeyed kid

**FOUR - IV - 4**

There is really nothing to do around here, Yuu thinks. He's one of the few students who has had to return to school early, which is why he is sitting in the Latents' classroom by himself being bored. Heh. He knows that Mikan, Natsume and Luca are all at Natsume's house for Christmas, and Hotaru is probably with Hayate, Anna and Nonoko are at Anna's house ... and that's about all of Yuu's "best friends". He sighs, just as the door slams open and startles him.

"Who's that? Oh, it's you. Hey, Iincho," a voice says. Yuu turns to see Mochu, one of those guys who always hangs around Natsume. Yuu doesn't really talk to Natsume that much, and he always gets the feeling that Natsume doesn't like him very much - the only reason that Yuu ever goes anywhere near that boy is because of Mikan. Because he's not exactly friends with Natsume, Yuu isn't exactly friends with Mochu either.

"Hi," Yuu says. He smiles nervously. He knows that he and Mochu don't belong to the same group, and so they haven't ever really spoken as friends. Mochu is with the "Natsume gang", as he sometimes calls them in his head, and Yuu is with those "geeks", Anna and Nonoko. (Hotaru scares him.)

But Mochu doesn't really seem like he wants to be picky about who to hang out with tonight. After all, there really is no-one else around except for a few crazy-hard-working Technicals in their lab block. "So ... how was your Christmas?" Mochu says after a pause. Yuu can almost feel the awkwardness physically.

"It was okay, I didn't do really much. Um ... how was yours?"

"Alright thanks, some of my brother's annoying little friends came round but that was about it." There's not really much else to say.

"Have you done the English homework for Yamada-sensei?" says Yuu when the pause stretches out for a bit too long.

Mochu looks at him as if he's mad. Which he probably is, asking that kind of question to one of Natsume's "followers". Luckily, Yuu is spared a scathing answer when the door opens again and another person steps inside.

"Heya! My mum had to bring me back early 'cos of the festival tomorrow, and I'm so glad that I'm not the only one here!" says the fox-eyed boy from their class, closing the door behind him and sitting on a desk. (Yuu can't remember when they had stopped referring to that boy by his name.)

"Yeah, same here," says Mochu. He seems to sound almost glad to have someone who's not a boring Special Star goody-two-shoes to talk to - _don't think like that_, says Yuu to himself. "How'd your Christmas go then?"

"It was great! I got _loads_ of new stuff," says the new arrival. "How about you? And you, Iincho?" The fox-eyed kid, Kitsuneme, is the mind reader's (Yuu can't remember when they stopped calling _that_ guy by his real name either) best friend, not part of any weird clique and just a regular friendly guy. Yuu's rather relieved that he's here.

Mochu talks a bit about how his brother's best friend tried to steal his laptop, and then Yuu gets a chance to speak. Kitsumeme laughs at his story of his mum setting fire to the rice instead of the Christmas pudding by mistake, and suddenly the conversation with Mochu seems much more ... friendly, relaxed. Yuu isn't quite sure why Kitsuneme (as well as Kokoroyomi, he remembers) has that effect on conversations, or why the prospect of talking to Mochu scared him so much in the first place. Really, he _is_ just a normal guy, albeit one that likes to hang around with Natsume instead of the Technicals.

Maybe he isn't that bad after all, Yuu thinks.

XXX


	8. THREE: LucaAoi

_A/N: This was actually the first one I wrote, so maybe it's not in the same settled "mood" as the others. I don't know._

**THREE - III - 3**

It's Christmas break and everyone is allowed to go home - or, at the least, somewhere outside the Academy. Luca is not home; he is sitting near the fireplace in the sitting room of Natsume's house, watching his bunny watching the crackling flames. Natsume is not in the house at the moment, but his sister Aoi is.

"Hey," says Luca as she walks into the room.

"Hey!" Aoi replies. She beams at him. "I was just thinking, it's so great that you could come this year! Having you and Mikan in the house as well as my brother makes it even nicer than usual. But are you sure that your mum doesn't mind?"

"Uh, she said that she'll be okay ..." says Luca. He's reassured Aoi of this many times.

Aoi bites her lip, but doesn't say anything. She's always liked Luca's mum, but she likes Luca more, so ... well, never mind. That logic just gets confusing. She sits down next to Luca, pets his rabbit and watches the fire. Luca, looking at her, thinks he sees a fleeting expression of longing and nostalgia, almost, but it is quickly replaced with a bright smile as she turns to him.

"D'you know where Natsume went?" she says.

"Dunno, he said he was going for a walk with Mikan. I hope they're alright; it's almost midnight."

"Oh, I think they'll be fine," says Aoi with confidence. "My brother can take care of himself and Mikan, no problem at all. Hey, did you say it was nearly midnight? It's almost the New Year! Quick, how much time do we have?"

Luca looks at the old grandfather clock across the hall - Aoi's vision is still not strong enough to see it for herself - and says, "We've got, like, half a minute."

"We _are_ gonna kiss at midnight, right?"

"Yeah." Luca looks at her. It's been quite a few years since the Flower Princess incident, and Aoi seems a completely different person. Her hair is longer for one thing, and her pale skin seems otherworldly rather than sickly. Indeed, she is as healthy as she ever was, and as is almost as happy and as cheerful as Mikan. If the years in Persona's dungeon have affected her body or spirit, it doesn't show. Luca has only been officially "with" her for a few months, but he feels like this should have happened a long time ago. Why did it take him so long to realise? Aoi is everything he wanted from Mikan and everything he liked about Natsume - she _is _his sister, after all, although Luca doesn't think about that very often - combined. And she's stunningly pretty, now that she's grown into a young woman rather than a little girl.

But his thoughts are suddenly interrupted when Aoi's hand turns his face towards her own, and their lips meet in a New Year's Eve kiss.

XXX


	9. TWO: Luna and Yuka

_A/N: Second to last one. (I bet you can guess what pairing the last one is about.) Umm... what can I say. Can be read as friendship/unrequited love/whatever you feel like._

**TWO - II - 2**

New Year's Eve has never seemed lonelier. Luna does not like being alone, even if she has been for almost her entire life. She lies back on her double bed and stares at the ceiling. She doesn't really feel in the mood to watch a film or use the laptop that's gathering dust in the other room or listening to music to cheer her up. There's no substitute for a friend, even if that friend was Soul-Sucked into being with you ... or just stayed with you out of pity. But there's no such luck this year. In fact, this year has been a rather irritating one, really. Working for someone that arrogant and manipulative was bound to leave its mark, but Luna needed the money. (And she's got it, which is a good thing, she supposes - but no-one to celebrate with. God, how depressing.)

What is there to do?

She could go and spy on Yuka Azumi. Luna knows that Yuka always visits the same place at this time every year - a simple memorial stone, a tribute to her dead lover. Luna thinks that word in scorn. Lover, teacher, helper, who cares. Just a person who took Yuka away from her. Just like that Elementary Principal who she was forced to work for a few years back, eurgh. Wrinkling her face in disgust, she turns her thoughts elsewhere, looking for those tiny spaces in her mind where the thought of Yuka has not yet enroached upon.

She could go to a club down in the city or at least get out of this apartment. But she's not exactly in the mood - even if being in your thirties is still considered young nowadays, she still hasn't got the energy she used to have. Must be all that stress.

I hate my job, Luna thinks. Undercover missions and secret plots involving the Soul-Sucked control of "difficult" targets were all fine - quite fun, really - and Luna didn't want to give that up just yet, but she just hated doing all this not for herself, but for someone else. Some bastard who didn't even let her have control of her own Alice, instead forced a pair of power-controlling earrings onto her so that he could be sure of no rebellion. To be fair, a few of her previous employers had used the same measures, but now Luna thinks that she's getting strong enough to grow out of this habit.

This year, thinks Luna, is going to be different. So I only have the weakest dregs of my power left - so what? I can still control children - and children can have great power. Just look at, what's-his-name, the Black Cat, that bitch Kaoru's son. There is always a way to get where you want if only you can find it. Amplification Alices, or maybe Invention Alices to get these studs out of my ears, and from then on things will be easy.

Yuka found her own way out, didn't she? Walked right out of that Academy by herself when that teacher died. Luna mentally slaps herself for thinking about Yuka again and fiddles with her earring to distract herself.

_And then when I have power, maybe being alone won't seem so hard._

XXX

Yuka sits by the gravestone, lights a candle, and thinks about things. Her boyfriend is sitting by the car - he never knew Izumi-sensei, and he says that it would be strange for him to come with her. But Yuka isn't thinking about him right now anyway. She's thinking about Izumi-sensei, her schooldays, her daughter.

She takes a deep breath and starts talking. She does this every year - goes to Izumi-sensei's grave and talks to the headstone about her life so far.

"Our daughter, Mikan, didn't stay with me for Christmas. I don't mind; it was partly my doing anyway. You remember Igarashi-sensei, I mean, Kaoru Hyuuga of course; you know that her son and Mikan are going out now? I told you last year, didn't I ..." Yuka smiles as she thinks of the happy couple. "I heard him ask her to stay at his house over the holidays, and I didn't have the heart to force Mikan to do otherwise. I hope they're alright there. It seems that all the people from our past are connected to our daughter in so many ways ... but I've been through that before, haven't I?"

Her hands are cold, and she twists them around in her lap. She briefly wonders whether anyone else can hear her, seemingly talking to herself out in the snow-covered graveyard, but then decides that she doesn't care. It's worth looking crazy and having cold hands to be here tonight.

So she carries on talking - and maybe, somewhere far away, Izumi-sensei carries on listening.

XXX


	10. ONE: NatsumeMikan

**ONE - I - 1  
**

"Natsume! Where are you? Natsume? Naaaaatsumeeeeeeee!!"

Mikan is terribly lost. It's cold, windy, extremely dark not to mention late, there seems to be some sort of blizzard, and she's lost. She sits down on a tree stump that she's just tripped over and shivers miserably. Still no sign of Natsume. She decides to try one last time - "Heeeeeeeeeeellllp!!"

Her shout seems to be muffled by something as soon as it leaves her mouth. She draws another breath - and someone's hand covers her eyes.

"Eeyyaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"

"Shut up, idiot," says a familiar voice from behind her.

"Okay. Oh it's you!" says Mikan, latching onto Natsume's arm and grinning like a maniac. "I thought I'd lost you! Where'd you go?"

"Just wanted to surprise you," Natsume replies, shrugging. "I just like watching you get scared. Hey, are you cold?"

"N-no," says Mikan, shivering.

Natsume puts his arm around her shoulders and says, "It's nearly midnight."

"Brrrrr... that's kind of late, do you think we should get back? Luca and Aoi are probably really worried about us."

"Nnn."

Mikan gets up to leave, but Natsume pulls her back down. Lighting up their surroundings with a warm flame in his hand, he says, "It's traditional to kiss at midnight, dumbass, and if we start walking now we're gonna miss it."

"Oh yeah!" Mikan says, her eyes wide. "Like last year and the year before?"

You'd have thought she'd remember, thought Natsume. "Yeah."

"Wow, that _is_ a long time ... we've already been through two past New Year's Eves with each other?" says Mikan, who can't quite believe it. Is that really true? She can definately remember last year's one - that was the one with the misplaced cake and Sumire's bathroom troubles - and she can remember one before that, the one with the awkwardness around Luca, so yes. That _is_ two whole years. It didn't feel like so long before, not even when they celebrated their two-year anniversary, and Mikan doesn't really know why that would be so. How strange.

Natsume can't quite believe it either. "God, I can't believe I've managed to put up with you for more than two whole years."

"Hey! Stop it!"

"..."

"Is it midnight yet? How about now? Now? Are we there yet?" says Mikan, her questions interspersed with Natsume saying things along the lines of "Shut up".

Finally - "Yeah ... few more seconds, though."

"Coo-"

Natsume stops her words with a kiss. Mikan happily complies. With the snow falling around them, the warm orange glow of Natsume's flame surrounding them and the distant fireworks lighting up the sky, it looks like a scene worthy of the ending of some romantic movie. Mikan would love this film, thinks Natsume.

_Pan out and rotate._

XXX

**ZERO - 0 - Happy New Year!**


End file.
